Homemade Marinara Sauce
When I started college I began cooking college-life basics like pasta with sauce. I was shocked that the bottled sauce from the grocery store (the kind that sold for $1.00 a jar) didn’t taste like “real” sauce that my Mom or Grandmothers made. I started doctoring it a bit, adding onion and garlic and lots of spices. Before too long I stopped buying the jarred sauce and bought cans of tomatoes instead. This recipe is about 12 years in the making, but it is something I love and has been passed along to a number of friends, former roommates, and family. You can riff on this in countless ways, but having a good skeleton will make those riffs work. This recipe is not difficult and doesn’t require fancy ingredients, just let it simmer for a while and those flavors will mix together and your end result will be fantastic.
Marina Sauce
1 lb ground turkey
1 yellow onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz diced mushrooms
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small zucchini, diced (about 8-10 inches long)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon rosemary
½ teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 15 oz cans petite diced tomatoes
16 oz tomato sauce
6 oz tomato paste
1 teaspoon brown sugar
Splash of lemon juice
More seasoning as necessary
Chop your veggies: mince the onion and garlic, chop the mushrooms and green pepper into tiny pieces, cut the zucchini into long sticks and then dice into ¼” cubes. Brown ground turkey in large pot, breaking up the meat with a spoon or spatula. Add the onion and garlic, sauté until translucent. Add mushrooms and green pepper, sauté a few more minutes, throw in the zucchini. Add the tomatoes, sauce, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or so, stirring every so often. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary; if it feels a little blah, add more of your herbs, ground black pepper, or red pepper flakes. If it is too acidic, add a half teaspoon more sugar. You can eat this over pasta or spaghetti squash with a bit of grated Parmesan, use it for lasagna (this is about the perfect amount of sauce for one 9×13 pan of lasagna), or freeze in zip-top bags for quick meals down the road.
*If you double this recipe you’ll have about 10 quarts of sauce, for a little quicker cooking, substitute 2 of the 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes for one 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes.
Granny’s Chocolate Fudge Sauce
You know those recipes that are handwritten by your grandmother, or your aunt, or your Mom? They are faded and have a few splatters on them, they may be creased and are probably in spidery cursive? You may have made them so many times you don’t actually need the recipe, but you pull it out anyway because you like to look at it. This is one of those recipes. This is my grandma’s recipe and it is absolutely stellar. It’s easy and deliciously chocolatey and will make mediocre generic ice cream stellar and will take slow-churned vanilla bean ice cream right over the top. Basically, you should make this right now and keep it in your fridge at all times.
Granny’s Chocolate Fudge Sauce
1 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla
Put all dry ingredients in small bowl, stir with fork to combine/sift. Melt butter over medium heart in saucepan. Add milk and turn heat to high, stir with whisk. When it gets hot and smoking add the dry ingredients and stir until it is bubbly. Then stir one minute more and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Let cool 5-10 minutes and then eat with a spoon. I mean, spoon on to your ice cream.
The longer you let it bubble the thicker it will be. Thick fudge sauce is perfect for eating out of the pan with a spoon, but it’s trickier when you’re trying to put it on a fudge sundae; you have to heat it up pretty hot for it to pour properly and then it melts your ice cream on contact. So, you know, keep that in mind as you’re watching the clock.
Half this recipe makes enough sauce for 2 awesome banana splits, or 3 “I’ll just have a little” splits.
My great-grandfather was a pharmacist and owed a small drug store where he dispensed pills and potions and made floats and sundaes and lime rickies for anyone who wanted one. He had these lovely banana split dishes that we would always use for our sundaes, no boring bowls for us! I inherited one or two of these dishes and was content to have that small piece of my heritage. However, several years ago I happened to find a lot of about 35 of them at a local thrift store, same pattern as my great-grandfather’s, for 50 cents each. I bought every single one and distributed them amongst my siblings. I think I am now hoarding a set of 8 and insist on having my banana splits in a proper banana split dish. As you do when you have great-grandpa’s dishes and your granny’s chocolate fudge sauce recipe.
Squash, Sausage, and Spinach Soup
This recipe was the brainchild of a freezy, lonely Saturday and a bunch of leftovers in the fridge/freezer. I was very uninterested in leaving the house so I decided to throw this all into a soup and see what happened. Result: very good things happened! I really like the mix of buttery squash, broth, and sausage, and the bright green spinach makes it so pretty!
Squash, Sausage, and Spinach Soup
2 links Italian sausage
½ butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 15 oz can Cannelli beans (or other white beans)
5-6 cups stock or broth
Salt generously (that squash needs it!)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons herbs de Provence (or a mix of basil, rosemary, thyme, and a bit of–I think–lavender)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon dry sage
1 bay leaf
1 ½ – 2 cups fresh spinach, sliced into ribbons
¼ cup cream (optional)
Parmesan cheese, for serving
Poke holes in the sausage links with a fork and place in a small frying pan over medium heat with enough water to almost cover the sausage. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes, turning once, until the sausage is cooked through. Remove from pan and let cool. When it’s cool enough to touch, slice it into circles and then quarter each circle for small little pieces of sausage.
Peel the butternut squash and dice into 1/2″ cubes, dice the onions and bell pepper.
In a large pot (6 quarts or so), heat the olive oil and then saute the onion and bell pepper for 3-5 minutes, add the sausage and all the ingredients except for the spinach, cream, and Parmesan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes until the squash is tender. Taste your seasonings, add anything that seems missing (salt, white pepper, or red pepper flakes will kick it up if it needs it!). Remove the bay leaf, add the spinach and cream and let simmer until the spinach is just wilty. Remove from heat and serve with a bit of Parmesan over the top.
The only thing I really wished I had with this was a warm slice of crusty French bread…but that would have required going to battle with yeast, or with the cold weather.
*You could also put this in a crock pot for 8 hours on low, adding the spinach and cream in the last 30 minutes.
Setting a formal table with silver and white
I have been waiting for ten years to set this table, and I finally have all the pieces necessary to make it as beautiful as the version in my head. (See the bottom of this post for a little more explanation on that.)
So many of these pieces have been in storage for years and years, I am so excited I finally dusted off all these “fancy” pieces and put them to use!
The silver beaded charger is a Costco find and at the time I bought them they were the fanciest thing I had ever seen. This is the first time they’ve been unwrapped and I love how every little bead caught a tiny reflection of light. The branch-pattern salad plate came from Pottery Barn clearance years and years ago. I have twelve of each of these, and definitely have the fancy-minded friends to fill up those places! Now I just need a table that can accommodate a dozen and Operation: Fancy Dinner Party For Twelve will be a reality!
I am not at all embarrassed to tell you that these are grocery store flowers stuffed into a jar from Wal-Mart (that I had to empty of it’s lentil contents to press into service as a vase). I do not think you need to spend oodles of money or shop at high end stores for a beautiful end-result. I mean, LOOK at those blooms! (The new 1.4 F-stop lens I got for Christmas isn’t doing them any disservices, either.)
My go-to navy tablecloth really makes all these silvery and white pieces pop. I bet this would also be gorgeous with a crisp white cloth (but that one was in the laundry, so you’ll have to use your imagination).
In addition to my older fancy pieces, I used a simple white dinner plate, white napkin, and silver napkin ring. I don’t know why I always steered away from white everyday dishes, I have been surprised at how often I pair them with brightly colored or patterned pieces and it looks just right.
The wine glasses have also been in storage for years, they were originally from Pier 1 (on clearance, because that’s how I roll).
Hellooooo, new lens! I really love this graphic-ish branch pattern! So simple! So pretty!
I added a few votive candles in IKEA holders and my ages-old flatware, and this looks-more-fancy-than-it-is table is complete!
Gah! I die. So! Beautiful! I think I need to make a rule that during the cold and bleary months I shall always have fresh flowers on my dining room table. I don’t care if they are $1.99 Manager’s Special grocery store blooms, they shall be loved!
Sources:
Tablecloth: Amazon
Silver beaded chargers: Costco (old, old)
White dinner plates: Pottery Barn Caterer’s Box
Silver branch salad plates: Pottery Barn (old, old)
White hemstitch napkins: eBay
Silver napkin rings: Macy’s
Flatware: Target (old, old)
Wine Glasses: Pier 1 (old, old)
Votive candle holders: IKEA
Getting Real:
Once upon a time, almost ten years ago, I signed up for a brand new life. I registered for towels and linens with my then-fiance and we started to plan our future: grad school, travel, career, maybe kids. And then, almost as soon as it all began, everything fell apart. After I filed for divorce I boxed up almost everything that reminded me of this “would have been” life we had planned. It’s amazing the sad memories some things bring back, and the hope that comes from others.
These chargers, silvery branch salad plates and goblets were picked out a decade ago by my 20-year old self to use in all the fancy dinners and parties I would inevitably have with my brand new husband. I think this is the first time they’ve been taken out of the box, and I am so thrilled that the only associations are potential parties and fancy evenings at home with a dozen friends.
Bacon-Jalapeno Little Smokies Sausages
I made this for a large-ish party and I had to wheel and deal the attendees to get 10 sausages to take home and photograph (because of course I forgot to take a pic before we left). When I looked online for some recipe inspiration it seemed that every Little Smokies recipe was a combination of ketchup, BBQ sauce and grape jelly…which is probably just fine, but I would much rather spend 5 or 10 more minutes and have something really delicious. (Also? I think grape jelly is the WORST! But that’s my personal bias.) I put these in the crock pot all day and they turned out just perfect, so really, 5 minutes wasn’t that big of a deal. You can scale this down for a smaller gathering, these quantities filled my 5 qt crock pot quite nicely without being too full to travel to the festivities. If you’re looking for a way to wow your friends, this recipe is it!
Bacon-Jalapeno Little Smokies Sausages
4 lbs. Little Smokies sausages (I used four 14 oz. packages because that’s how my grocery store sells them)
8-10 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 jalapenos, diced
2 tablespoons dry onion
6 oz. tomato paste
8 oz. tomato sauce
2-3 teaspoons white pepper
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 ½ cups BBQ sauce
½ cup water (check it a few hours in, if it’s super thick add a little bit more)
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (this is such a fantastic addition for a rich, smoky flavor!)
Cook your bacon in your preferred method (skillet on the stove, George Foreman Grill, rimmed baking sheet in the oven, whatever). Cook it crispy-crispy because it will sit in sauce for several hours. While it’s cooking chop your jalapeno. Now, I am not a spicy food person. I use fresh jalapenos because I can determine how many seeds I want in the recipe (the seeds are the hot part, the pepper flesh is rather mild). I ALWAYS put on rubber gloves when I handle jalapenos because I don’t want those oils or anything on my fingers to then be transferred to my eye. I cry like a baby when I chop onions, I think I’d probably curl up and die if I got jalapeno oil in my eyeball. If you like things spicy, keep a few of those seeds in the mix. If you just want the jalapeno flavor without the spice, toss all the seeds. Chop and measure and dump all the ingredients into the crock pot and set to high for 4 hours or low for 6-8. You really just need to warm this up and let the flavors get all cozy.
heidikins cooks 